The NHS is FANTASTIC!

[Globalti]

Had a comical experience last night.... I went to my GP on Thursday about something and while I was there I asked him if he could have a look in my right ear because I've been getting an awful noise like something is touching my eardrum. He looked and couldn't see anything, no wax buildup or anything obvious.

Next day it was worse than ever, every time I moved my jaw or face I was getting a loud sound like someone crinkling paper. Rang the surgery, put on my best "secretary charmer" voice and asked if I could nip back on the way home for him to have another look. "Sure, come at 4 pm" she replied. So I dropped in and the surgery was quiet, no other patients waiting and my GP seemed pretty relaxed. So there I am with the Dr peering into my ear and eventually he spots the problem, a thick rogue hair that's growing inwards and touching the eardrum. He nips round to his colleague to borrow some thin forceps but can't get the hair. Goes back for some tweezers, still no luck. By this time I've been there a good 30 minutes and I'm worrying about the other patients. Then in comes the colleague for a look, he spends several minutes fiddling around in my ear while Dr no 1 holds the ear back. I mention that I'm worried I might be taking too much of their time and there must be other patients. He quickly checks the appointments on the computer and sees that there's still time as a couple of patients haven't turned up. "Anyway" he says "I'm not going to let this beat me now!" The two of them are clearly relishing the challenge, which doesn't say much for the level of professional stimulation in General Practice, does it?

Dr no 2 nips back to his room for another set of tweezers and has another go, trying to get the nose of the tweezers through the hole in the middle of the ear-scope thingy. Eventually he gives up and advises his colleague to book me into a special ear clinic. We finish, I thank my GP and leave..... and to my horror there's at least a dozen people sitting in the waiting room, all staring at me with interest, wondering what can be so serious as to have two doctors rushing back and forth with tweezers and forceps and consulting urgently inside the room. I felt terrible - if only they had known it was all about a hair! Afterwards my son reckoned I should have come out and fallen on the waiting room floor clutching my chest dramatically then jumped up and said "had you fooled!"

So far this little hair has cost me zero and the NHS probably getting on for a couple of hundred quid. Suddenly I don't feel bad about paying taxes.

 

[Jane Smart]

What a lovely, amusing story, for a miserable wet, Saturday morning, thanks

Hope you get your appointment at the ear clinic soon

 

[Globalti]

Sorry? SPEAK UP JANE!

 

[Fnaar]

Nice story

 

[PBancroft]

Yeah, the NHS is actually pretty awesome on the whole.

(I kinda have to say that as the wife is a HCA, but I do think its true regardless)

With various childhood illnesses and injuries (standing on a rake is one example which 'springs' to mind) I think I've got my money's worth out of the NHS already, not to mention anything which might come up in the future and supporting my occasional Airomir inhaler.

 

[automatic_jon]

I'm training to be a radiographer at the moment so spend a fair bit of time in hospital working with patients (although not as much time as I would like). And while several of my peers want to go into private practice when they qualify (the CT scans you see advertised on the telly, that sort of thing) I am more than happy to continue to plug away for the national health.
Even though we're constantly understaffed and being told to squeeze more patients through per hour, that fact that I'm being paid to be there for anyone who needs me, regardless of income or insurance cover, you can't beat it.

And a knowledge of bony injuries doesn't go amiss if I come off the bike on my way in.

 

[Keith Oates]

automatic_jon, it's good to read a post like that and to know there are people with your attitude manning the NHS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Fixedwheelnut]

NHS are great even though they can be bloody frustrating at times and that is more to do with funding and managment than the staff themselves.

I have always been amazed at what they are capable of we often have many hospital trips with our disabled daughter and get treated well [probably because we are on first name terms with halve the consultants ]

They did a pretty good job of patching me up last week as well after an RTA and broken hand.

 

[rich p]

The NHS is pretty good at any time for most trearments but it has it's faults. Any organisation that big, trying to do what it is attempting would. Where it really comes into it's own though is in acute, emergency response and care.

 

[Globalti]

Absolutely - there's only one country in the world where I would want to be if I had a serious long-term illness and that's Britain. As with so many other aspects of British life, we may be a bit ropey and tattered around the edges but we still have the best specialists in the world.

 

[Headgardener]

The NHS is a wonderful service but it has one major fault. That is that those on the ground floor i.e. doctors, nurses, ancillary and maintainence staff are running a service as per the last inital of NHS and the managment are running a business as per nothing.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Another one here that has been well treated. When I had my chest pains last year I couldn't fault them, from my GP that I initially contacted, and made the initial diagnoses, to the surgeon that rodded my arteries they did a superb job.

 

[Jane Smart]

Sorry? SPEAK UP JANE!

I typed it so I would not have to speak up

 

[gavintc]

Personally, I have nothing but praise for the NHS. I broke my collar bone in Apr and before that my hand about 4 yrs ago. On each occasion, I was extremely well treated by pleasant professional staff. Their humour and compassion shone through. I know their are funding issues, but the staff from the cleaner, through the nurse to the consultant are in the main, good honest people.

In one job I held down some years ago I had private family healthcare. My daughter took ill and went to the local private hospital. Admittedly, this was about 15 yrs ago, but I was not impressed. There was a significant error in a drug administered and we only found out through a chance conversation with a pharmacist who is a family member. The hospital had realised the mistake and had taken measures to counter the drug, but we were not informed.

 

[fossyant]

I can't fault them, although my little rant about consultants will be more down to budgets.